Day Seven - 14 Dec 2017

It was free and easy on day seven as we would be leaving for airport in the evening at around 5:30pm to catch a 8:10pm flight from Vijayawada Airport to Bengaluru Airport then take the Singapore Airline flight back to Singapore. I was on an earlier hotel check-out time at 12 and I also had a some discomfort in the stomach so I did not go out in the car to sketch the Krisna River or the city for the last time. Those who were on 3:00pm check-out time did that. After the hotel check-out, we went shopping for some gifts and kurta blouse for me and shirts for my son. I came back to the hotel and managed to do this sketch inside the hotel lobby looking out to the street from the corner glass panel. It was also the last sketch in the Seawhite Conertina Sketchbook. Perfect!

Day Two - Ghandi Hills

On 8 Dec, 2017 which was day one of our trip to India, we arrived at Hyderabad from Singapore Changi Airport via Silkair and checked into a hotel called "Hotel Hyderabad Grand" to catch a quick nap for about 4 hours and next we were on domestic flight Spicejet from Hyderabad to Vijayawada on Day two. I was told we should check into Novotel Hyderabad Airport but it was fully booked on that night.

On 9 Dec, 2017 in Vijayawada, after having lunch at the Fortune Murali Park Hotel, we visited two sites - the 'Seed Road' which is under construction for Amaravati new city and the foundation stone unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Oct 2015. Next, we visited Ghandi Hills when the sky was still bright and we had like an hour to sketch from dusk to night, the view at Ghandi Hills was spectacular.

That evening, we were all tired of the air travel, transfer, road trips, sketching on top of Ghandi Hills and dinner at a place called BBQ Nation across the hotel, we went straight back to the hotel room and slept through the night.

India sketchbook

I finally added the stickers, boarding passes, hotel information to the concertina sketchbook for future reference.

It was truly an incredible India trip from 8 to 15 Dec, 2017. The two cities Vijayawada and Amaravati were just amazing. People were so friendly and the sight, sound of the places were so incredibly rich and colourful. We were warned of the non-stop honking sound on the road but I found it acceptable and an eye opener especially we visited India with our open minds.